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Grendel
Grendel Tales Omnibus: Volume 1
From the visionary mind of Matt Wagner, the world of Grendel returns with two value-priced omnibus volumes collecting all Grendel Tales stories! Featuring some of the best writers and artists in the industry and never-before-collected material, Grendel Tales Omnibus: Volume 1 is sure to be a hit with long-time fans of this iconic character or newcomers just discovering Wagner's strange, dystopian future, where the angry spirit of Grendel is part of everyone's lives!
With over 400 pages of story and art to enjoy and all cover work reproduced, Dark Horse is proud to present the Grendel Tales Omnibus collections!
Collects 'Devil Worship', the first Grendel Tales short story from Grendel #40, Four Devils, One Hell #1–6, Devil's Hammer #1–3, The Devil in Our Midst #1–5, and Devils and Deaths #1–2.
With over 400 pages of story and art to enjoy and all cover work reproduced, Dark Horse is proud to present the Grendel Tales Omnibus collections!
Collects 'Devil Worship', the first Grendel Tales short story from Grendel #40, Four Devils, One Hell #1–6, Devil's Hammer #1–3, The Devil in Our Midst #1–5, and Devils and Deaths #1–2.
472 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2017
12 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Matt Wagner
967 books231 followersMatt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist. In addition to his creator-owned series' Mage and Grendel, he has also worked on comics featuring The Demon and Batman as well as such titles as Sandman Mystery Theatre and Trinity, a DC Comics limited series featuring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 30, 2024
Devil Worship by Steven Seagle & Ho Che Anderson - 2 Stars
The first Grendel Tales story from back in the Comico days.
Four Devils, One Hell by James Robinson and Teddy Kristiansen - 2 Stars
The story of four Grendels who's stories converge in New Orleans. The story is disjointed and unfocused. The art is terrible. All of the characters look similar. There are places where I couldn't tell what was happening on a single panel on the page.
The Devil's Hammer by Rob Waldron - 2 Stars
Some Grendels wipe out a village and leave one survivor who trains to be a Grendel so that he can exact his revenge one day. Not a very compelling story. The art is nothing special.
The Devil in Our Midst by Steven Seagle & Paul Grist - 3 Stars
A suicidal Grendel washes up on the shores of Antarctica where he meets up with a team charged with protecting a large toxic waste dump. The crew are contracting a virus that makes then ultra-violent and bleed from the eyes in the shape of Grendel's mask. (Looks cool but doesn't make a lot of sense.) Borrows heavily from The Thing. Paul grist art looks very amatuerish in a Grendel setting.
Devils and Deaths by Darko Macan & Edvin Biuković - 4 Stars
The best art and story of the bunch. Grendel Draco has radiation poisoning and goes on one last mission to save the village from the monster eating livestock. The late Biuković's art works very well with the rustic setting and theme.
Received an advance copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
The first Grendel Tales story from back in the Comico days.
Four Devils, One Hell by James Robinson and Teddy Kristiansen - 2 Stars
The story of four Grendels who's stories converge in New Orleans. The story is disjointed and unfocused. The art is terrible. All of the characters look similar. There are places where I couldn't tell what was happening on a single panel on the page.
The Devil's Hammer by Rob Waldron - 2 Stars
Some Grendels wipe out a village and leave one survivor who trains to be a Grendel so that he can exact his revenge one day. Not a very compelling story. The art is nothing special.
The Devil in Our Midst by Steven Seagle & Paul Grist - 3 Stars
A suicidal Grendel washes up on the shores of Antarctica where he meets up with a team charged with protecting a large toxic waste dump. The crew are contracting a virus that makes then ultra-violent and bleed from the eyes in the shape of Grendel's mask. (Looks cool but doesn't make a lot of sense.) Borrows heavily from The Thing. Paul grist art looks very amatuerish in a Grendel setting.
Devils and Deaths by Darko Macan & Edvin Biuković - 4 Stars
The best art and story of the bunch. Grendel Draco has radiation poisoning and goes on one last mission to save the village from the monster eating livestock. The late Biuković's art works very well with the rustic setting and theme.
Received an advance copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
April 14, 2022
Este primer volumen en el que se recogen la mitad de los Grendel Tales publicados (hasta el momento) tiene el problema habitual de las colecciones completas. Hay historias muy menores o directamente malas que reducen el efecto de las buenas en la valoración global. Tal es el caso de la primera, una estampa sobre el funcionamiento del estado Grendel, que apenas es interesante para ver uno de los primeros trabajos de Ho Che Anderson; o de la horrible "El martillo del diablo", también inédita hasta ahora en España (con razón). Mejor funcionan las que ya se habían traducido hace muuuuuucho tiempo. Bueno, "El diablo entre nosotros" sigue dando vergüencilla ajena cuando Paul Grist se pone a dibujar cosas para las que no está preparado (el monstruo, la acción en una historia de aventuras), y apenas se mantiene como un producto de serie B ideado con el piloto automático puesto. Mucho mejor se sostiene "Cuatro demonios, un infierno", uno de los primeros trabajos de James Robinson para el mercado estadounidense junto a Teddy Kristiansen. Aunque la escritura de ciertos pasajes peca de pretenciosa, el argumento y la trama extraen todo su jugo a los grandes iconos del período post Orion Assante, reformulados en clave de hard boiled sureño. Y después está la primera de las dos miniseries del tándem Darko Macan y Edvin Biukovic, una historieta engañosamente sencilla que traslada al universo Grendel lo que entonces estaba pasando en la antigua Yugoslavia (ese uso de los niños al principio del tebeo; el poder de los señores de la guerra). Un pequeño anticipo de lo que estaría por venir en su segunda colaboración.
La edición de Planeta exhibe desgana por la ausencia de materiales de apoyo para un libro de 40 pavos. Apenas un textito de Diana Schultz la editora para contar cómo llegaron Macan y Biukovic a estas historias en lo que ya es historia del tebeo. Después está el tema de no incluir juntas las dos historias del tándem croata, además relacionadas argumentalmente, pero supongo que atenerse a la decisión original de Dark Horse (recoger las historias cronológicamente según su aparición en EE.UU.) fue inquebrantable. O lo más sencillo.
La edición de Planeta exhibe desgana por la ausencia de materiales de apoyo para un libro de 40 pavos. Apenas un textito de Diana Schultz la editora para contar cómo llegaron Macan y Biukovic a estas historias en lo que ya es historia del tebeo. Después está el tema de no incluir juntas las dos historias del tándem croata, además relacionadas argumentalmente, pero supongo que atenerse a la decisión original de Dark Horse (recoger las historias cronológicamente según su aparición en EE.UU.) fue inquebrantable. O lo más sencillo.
July 31, 2018
These stories take the Grendel Mythos into an entirely new direction. It still amazes me how different the various Grendel stories are. This one has a political tale, a pretty cool noir, a story that reminds me of John Carpenter's The Thing in a way, and a post apocalyptic story as well. Just a great range of stories and art styles.
August 20, 2018
Four Devils One Hell is an insightful look into the madness that is Grendel.
December 9, 2018
This is a mixed bag if there ever was one.
I picked this up because I remember reading an interview with Gerard Way a long time ago where he talked about some of the art in Grendel Tales being amazing. I didn't learn that this is a spinoff of a title simply called Grendel until I became confused by the second story, which caused me to do a bit of research. I can't really judge if these stories live up to the main title since I haven't read it, but I can simply judge them as stories on their own.
Devil Worship - this was my introduction to the world of Grendel. It's an issue long and isn't anything too special. The art looks kinda sloppy and the writing's fine. 3/5
Four Devils, One Hell - The experimental look of this artwork reminded me of Sam Kieth's the Maxx, which I highly recommend. I like the art, though it's not for all. I mostly liked the story, which was about four separate characters who all come together in the end to fight vampires, I guess? I don't know. It's kinda goofy. At some point along the way, the story lost me. The resolution felt a little too easy as well. 3/5
Devil's Hammer - I feel like this writer thought that he was really smart when he wrote this story about you cannot accomplish good things through evil means, but it just comes off as a bit pretentious, especially with how the narrator is constantly breaking the fourth wall and saying stuff like "reader." The art's not the worst I've ever seen, but I still think it sucks. This is easily the weakest story in the collection. 2/5
The Devil In Our Midst - I haven't ever seen John Carpenter's The Thing, but I know enough about it to know that this story took a good bit from that movie. I liked this story of a regretful Grendel soldier being ending up on a very troubled antarctic base. The writing was pretty good, but the art was pretty ugly. The artist probably would've been a better fit for a fun slice of life story, but the art just doesn't work for an action/horror thing. The art looks kinda amateurish in general. It's easily the worst thing about this otherwise decent story. 3/5
Devils and Deaths - Ah, we've finally reached the best story in this collection. Basically, this guy gets infected with a virus, and deals with fighting in his gang and the knowledge that his life will end soon. The art is really strong and is easily the best in this collection. 4/5
I'll pick up the first volume of the main Grendel series and see if I enjoy it, though I won't be reading the next volume of Grendel Tales.
I picked this up because I remember reading an interview with Gerard Way a long time ago where he talked about some of the art in Grendel Tales being amazing. I didn't learn that this is a spinoff of a title simply called Grendel until I became confused by the second story, which caused me to do a bit of research. I can't really judge if these stories live up to the main title since I haven't read it, but I can simply judge them as stories on their own.
Devil Worship - this was my introduction to the world of Grendel. It's an issue long and isn't anything too special. The art looks kinda sloppy and the writing's fine. 3/5
Four Devils, One Hell - The experimental look of this artwork reminded me of Sam Kieth's the Maxx, which I highly recommend. I like the art, though it's not for all. I mostly liked the story, which was about four separate characters who all come together in the end to fight vampires, I guess? I don't know. It's kinda goofy. At some point along the way, the story lost me. The resolution felt a little too easy as well. 3/5
Devil's Hammer - I feel like this writer thought that he was really smart when he wrote this story about you cannot accomplish good things through evil means, but it just comes off as a bit pretentious, especially with how the narrator is constantly breaking the fourth wall and saying stuff like "reader." The art's not the worst I've ever seen, but I still think it sucks. This is easily the weakest story in the collection. 2/5
The Devil In Our Midst - I haven't ever seen John Carpenter's The Thing, but I know enough about it to know that this story took a good bit from that movie. I liked this story of a regretful Grendel soldier being ending up on a very troubled antarctic base. The writing was pretty good, but the art was pretty ugly. The artist probably would've been a better fit for a fun slice of life story, but the art just doesn't work for an action/horror thing. The art looks kinda amateurish in general. It's easily the worst thing about this otherwise decent story. 3/5
Devils and Deaths - Ah, we've finally reached the best story in this collection. Basically, this guy gets infected with a virus, and deals with fighting in his gang and the knowledge that his life will end soon. The art is really strong and is easily the best in this collection. 4/5
I'll pick up the first volume of the main Grendel series and see if I enjoy it, though I won't be reading the next volume of Grendel Tales.
July 10, 2022
For better or for worse, Grendel was the comic I really latched on to as an adolescent. Hunter Rose, Christine Spar, Eppy, Orion Asante, I was there for all of them. Grendel Tales, however... It's a little all over the place. Grendel has been a... "Spirit" is perhaps the best word, but not in the spectre or ghost kind of way .. that chose its avatars carefully. In the post-Asante era, "Grendel" is a title that might as well be applied to anyone who can kill anyone without consequence. A license to kill, in a way. So you'll meet several Grendels in these stories, and many of them don't deserve the title in the spirit of the earlier works. The very word "Grendel" becomes diluted to mean anything.
September 30, 2022
El legado de Hunter Rose más allá de la era Orion Assante, expuesto en diferentes historias y desde diversos aspectos. "Venerar al Diablo", "Cuatro Diablos, un Infierno", "En Diablo entre Nosotros" "Diablos y Decesos" extienden por nuevas vías el concepto original con equipos creativos cuya calidad - sin embargo - no alcanza la maestría desplegada por Matt Wagner con su creación.
May 9, 2024
Not nearly as ambitious as the original, longer stories by Matt Wagner were. Still entertaining, though.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews